n4/5 admin & it – 1.1 admin in the workplace © best ltd administration and it (national 4 and...

N4/5 Admin & IT – 1.1 Admin in the Workplace © BEST Ltd

Administration and IT (National 4 and National 5)

Administrative Practices1.1 – Administration in the Workplace


A BUSINESS is an organisation that is formed to provide GOODS and SERVICES for CONSUMERS (people who need and want things).

Businesses use the following WORKERS to help them manage the RESOURCES that they use to make goods and services.

◦ FINANCE◦ MARKETING◦ OPERATIONS◦ HUMAN RESOURCES (HR)

Businesses often provide goods and services to make a PROFIT.


ADMINISTRATION involves activities which help to:

◦ ORGANISE the work of a business◦ SUPPORT the work of a business

Administration is important because it can help a business survive by helping to make sure that its’ work is being carried out:

◦ EFFICIENTLY (with little wastage) ◦ EFFECTIVELY (properly)

Common types of administrative activities that take place in businesses can be seen below.

◦ CUSTOMER SERVICE◦ HEALTH AND SAFETY◦ SECURITY◦ HANDLING INFORMATION


CUSTOMER SERVICE is about ways of treating the customers of a business in a POSITIVE way so that are happy.

Businesses can try to maximise the level of customer service that their workers provide by making sure that they are TRAINED to deal with each other and/or customers in the following ways.

◦ POSITIVE IMAGE◦ EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION◦ PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

This training can either be INDUCTION TRAINING (for new workers to show them what is expected) or IN SERVICE TRAINING (for existing workers to update their abilities).


Businesses spend time, money and effort trying to provide high standards of customer service because it can bring them the following BENEFITS.

◦ POSITIVE IMAGE◦ CUSTOMER LOYALTY◦ INCREASE SALES◦ MOTIVATED WORKERS

This also helps prevent NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES from poor customer service.

◦ UNHAPPY CUSTOMERS◦ DECREASED SALES◦ REPUTATION DAMAGE◦ LESS MOTIVATED WORKERS


HEALTH AND SAFETY in a business is all about taking steps to try and prevent customers or workers being injured or hurt in the workplace.

Health and Safety is important in businesses for the following reasons.

◦ INJURED WORKERS CANNOT WORK◦ INJURED WORKERS MAY STILL NEED TO BE PAID ◦ GOVERNMENT HEALTH AND SAFETY LAWS

The most common types of accidents that Government statistics show happen to administrative workers include the following.

◦ SLIPS or TRIPS (eg wet floors or trailing wires)◦ FALLING FROM A HEIGHT◦ BEING HIT BY A MOVING OR FLYING OBJECT◦ POOR HANDLING, LIFTING OR CARRYING◦ EYE STRAIN AND HEADACHES◦ REPETITIVE STRAIN INJURY (RSI)◦ ELECTRIC SHOCKS

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Different businesses will have to follow different laws about health and safety depending on what they do. However, the laws that almost all businesses will have to follow can be seen below.

◦ HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK ACT (1974) [HASAW]

◦ HEALTH AND SAFETY (FIRST AID) REGULATIONS (1981)

◦ WORKPLACE (HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELFARE) REGULATIONS (1982)

◦ HEALTH AND SAFETY (DISPLAY SCREEN) REGULATIONS (1992)

◦ REPORTING OF INCIDENCES OF INJURIES, DISEASES AND DANGEROUS OCCURRENCES REGULATIONS (1995) [RIDDOR]

◦ FIRE PRECAUTIONS (WORKPLACE) REGULATIONS (1999)

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SLIPS or TRIPS Mop up spills and use “wet floor" signs Report loose flooring and tape it down Keep all passages free from obstacles

FALLING FROM A HEIGHT Ensure windows have safety catches Do NOT use chairs to reach high objects

BEING HIT BY OBJECTS Fill filing cabinets from top to bottom Do NOT throw items in the office

POOR HANDLING and CARRYING Never carry too much Bend at the knee when picking up items

Good working practices are NOT laws - they are rules for workers to follow to make sure that laws are followed and they are safe. Examples of good working practices for certain risks are below.

RSI and BACKACHES from VDU Take regular breaks Provide adjustable chair and wrist rest

EYE STRAIN and HEADACHES from VDU Take regular breaks Adjust screen brightness as necessary Check and adjust lighting levels Use anti-glare screens and blinds Check eyesight and use glasses

ELECTRIC SHOCKS No drinks near electrical equipment Do NOT overload power socket Do NOT attempt to open or attempt to repair

electrical items without training.


Businesses will create the following PROCEDURES (ways of working) to help deal with health and safety risks.

◦ FIRST AID PROCEDURES

◦ ACCIDENT REPORTING PROCEDURES

◦ EMERGENCY PROCEDURES

◦ TRAINING PROCEDURES


SECURITY in a business is all about taking steps to try and MINIMISE the following RISKS to people, property and information.

◦ FIRE◦ FLOOD◦ THEFT◦ LOSS◦ ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE ◦ MALICIOUS DAMAGE (damage done on purpose)

Businesses are concerned about these security risks because they could stop it functioning properly.

The amount of security that will be used by a business will depend on a number of factors such as the following.

◦ THE AREA THE BUSINESS WORKS IN ◦ THE VALUE OF EQUIPMENT OR INFORMATION◦ THE TYPE OF WORK THE BUSINESS DOES


People, property and information can be protected by the following PHYSICAL security systems.

◦ RECEPTION AREA◦ SECURITY ID◦ SECURITY PATROL◦ CCTV◦ ALARMS◦ KEY HOLDER◦ CABLE TIES◦ SECURITY MARKING ◦ LOCKS

o Key Locks (manual)o Swipe Card Locks (electronic)o Security Number Locks (electronic)o Retinal (eye) or Fingerprint Scan Locks (electronic)o Voice Recognition Locks (electronic)


People, property and information can be protected by the following ELECTRONIC security systems.

◦ ACTIVATION CARDS OR KEYS◦ BACK UP PROCEDURES◦ VIRUS SCANNING SOFTWARE ◦ PASSWORDS◦ ACCESS RIGHTS◦ ENCRYPTION


Protection of electronic information is not only important to prevent damage and loss, but also to make sure that LAWS about the storage and use of electronic information are followed.

The main laws that apply to the use of electronic information can be seen below.

◦ DATA PROTECTION ACTS (1984 and 1998)

◦ COMPUTER MISUSE ACT (1990)

◦ COPYRIGHT, DESIGNS AND PATENT ACT (1998)

◦ FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT (2002)


HANDLING INFORMATION in a business involves activities which try to make sure that workers and customers have the information that that they need.

Handling information activities involve the following types of work.

◦ COLLECTING INFORMATION◦ PROCESSING INFORMATION◦ COMMUNICATING INFORMATION

Handling information is important as it helps a business to SURVIVE by helping everyone involved with it to be able to do the following.

◦ KNOW WHAT THE BUSINESS IS DOING◦ GET THE INFORMATION NEEDED FOR THEIR JOB◦ BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY

COLLECT(gather

information)

COLLECT(gather

information)

PROCESS(do something useful with the

information)

PROCESS(do something useful with the

information)

COMMUNICATE(pass the

information on to people who need

it)

COMMUNICATE(pass the

information on to people who need

it)


In most modern businesses, handling information is usually involves the use of INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT).

Common pieces of IT HARDWARE and SOFTWARE that are used to help handle information can be seen below.

◦ INTRANET (or NETWORK)◦ THE INTERNET◦ VIDEO CONFERENCE◦ FAX◦ WORD PROCESSOR or DESK TOP PUBLISHING ◦ DATABASE◦ SPREADSHEET◦ PRESENTATION SOFTWARE◦ ELECTRONIC DIARY◦ VOICEMAIL◦ E-MAIL


An ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT is a worker who has been RECRUITED to help with the administration tasks of the business as a whole.

Common tasks that Administrative assistants will undertake are as follows.

◦ CUSTOMER SERVICE Helping deal with customers, suppliers and visitors Helping other workers

◦ HEALTH AND SAFETY Following working practices and procedures Completing accident report forms if necessary

◦ SECURITY Ensure that they carry their Staff ID badge Ensure areas are locked when not in use Backing up and scanning IT work for viruses

◦ HANDLING INFORMATION Using IT to organise and support events


In order to make sure that administrative assistants are able complete their tasks properly, they should have the following SKILLS and QUALITIES.

◦ SKILLS

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SKILLS ORGANISATIONAL SKILLS PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

◦ QUALITIES FLEXIBILITY INITIATIVE TRUSTWORTHY TACTFUL

During recruitment, businesses often clarify and summarise this information about the tasks, skills and qualities they are looking for in the following documents.

◦ JOB DESCRIPTION◦ PERSON SPECIFICATION

The Administrative Assistant (continued)

n4/5 admin & it – 1.1 admin in the workplace © best ltd administration and it (national 4 and...

Documents

workplace best ltdn45

workplace slide

following workers

administrative workers

injured workers

customer service health

business administration

existing workers